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| Date | Title | Author | Reference | |
| December 2006 ***New*** |
Travesty: The Trial of Slobodan Milosevic and the Corruption of International Justice | John Laughland | Amazon Paperback 1 Dec 2006 |
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| Slobodan Milosevic died in prison in 2005 while on trial at the Hague for war crimes. John Laughland was one of the last Western journalists to meet Milosevic. He followed the trial from the beginning and wrote extensively on it, challenging its legitimacy and its implications for international justice in newspapers such as the "Guardian". In this short and readable book, Laughland analyses the trial in full, from its inception to its deeply unsatisfactory conclusion. International justice is meant to be a safeguard through which war criminals can be brought to account. However the trial of Milosovic and also the trial of Saddam Hussein raise many questions about the way that this justice is being administered. What are the implications of a 'morality-driven' justice for us all? Laughland argues that the trials are little more than a PR exercise for leading Western countries, offering no justice and no safeguard against future crimes. Summary by Amazon, adapted by Aspals |
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| 27 October 2006 | Torture: an overview of the law | Gabriela Echeverria and Elizabeth Wilmshurst | Chatham House May 2006, |
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| There is an absolute prohibition in international law against torture. The prohibition applies even in times of national emergency or war, and there are no exceptions or justifications. The authors examine What is torture? How is torture distinguished from lawful interrogation techniques? Is torture prohibited under all circumstances? What if there is an imminent threat to the public: the so-called ticking bomb scenario? What obligations do governments have? What is ‘extraordinary rendition’? On most points the law is clear. Torture and inhumane and degrading treatment are prohibited without exception. The prohibition applies to all States and is not limited to actions within their territories. States are barred from using information in proceedings if it has been obtained under torture. States break international law if they transfer persons to countries where they face a real risk of torture or ill-treatment or if they are complicit in such actions by others. Indefinite detention can constitute a form of torture if it causes severe mental or physical suffering. Harsh interrogation techniques which cause severe mental or physical suffering are prohibited, wherever they are used. Cruel treatment is prohibited and cannot be justified by the need to put an end to the ‘war on terror’. Summary adapted by Aspals |
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| 19 September 2006 | The ‘War on Terror’: Do the Rules Need Changing? | Charles Garraway | Chatham House September 2006, |
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| Charles Garraway is a leading practitioner in the field of international law. In this paper he asks some very profound questions: Does the term ‘war on terror’ have any legal significance or is it just a figure of speech? What is the law applicable to the ‘war on terror’? How does international law deal with non-State actors such as Al-Qaeda or Hizbullah? Is there a potential clash between human rights law and the law of armed conflict? Are the rules adequate to deal with the current situation or do they need changing? This paper explains the author’s view that there need to be international efforts to agree on the law applicable to the new kind of conflict in the age of the ‘war on terror’. Summary adapted by Aspals |
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| 27 August 2006 | Dozens of troops face threat of court after opening fire in Afghanistan | Sean Rayment | Daily Telegraph 27 Aug 2006, |
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| The author considers that the threat of prosecution is hanging over dozens of British soldiers fighting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. He writes that six "shooting" inquiries have been launched by the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police (RMP) into the actions of troops suspected of breaching the Army's strict rules for opening fire in battle. The inquiries could lead to dozens of soldiers being charged with murder or manslaughter and, if found guilty, being jailed. He says the investigations follow orders by senior officers at the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood, Middlesex, that all shooting incidents in Afghanistan involving "death or injury" of civilians or rebels must be fully investigated. The article appears to extend the myth that the soldier can do no wrong. It does not seem to consider the responsibilities borne by modern-day soldiers and the duty to uphold the rule of law. There is no licence for soldiers to kill, save when at war and engaging an enemy. As is often said, soldiers do not stand above the law. Peacekeeping is not war. The fact that a shooting in the circumstances outlined is investigated does not inexorably mean there will be a prosecution. It is considered by an independent Prosecuting Authority who makes that decision. It is worth remembering that, under the Armed Forces Bill 2006, presently before Parliament, there will be a power for the service police to investigate serious offences (which include section 20 GBH) without being called in first by the chain of command. The AF Bill provisions on the autonomy of the police and the minimising of the power of the chain of command to interfere in investigations is consequent upon the concerns highlighted in the disclosed correspondence between the Attorney General and the SoS for Defence following the Roberts case and attempts to place the service police on a similar footing to the civilian police in terms of powers of investigation. Nevertheless, it may still not go far enough. Summary by Aspals |
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| June 2006 | Combat Lawyer | Lt Col Juliet Bartlett, AGC(ALS) | Counsel, Jun 2006, at p.21 |
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| A most readable article highlighting the career of its author, a senior army lawyer, and the varied opportunities presented by the Army Legal Services to those who join. The Army Legal Services is manifestly an equal opportunities employer. Lt Col Bartlett’s varied career will whet the appetites of many budding military lawyers and be the envy of many others stuck in the drudgery of office routine. . Summary by Aspals |
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| 10 June 2006 | Squaddie: A Soldier's Story | Steven McLaughlin | Amazon | |
| From the harsh realities of basic training to post-war chaos in Iraq and knife-edge tension in Northern Ireland, "Squaddie" takes us to a place not advertised in army recruitment brochures. It exposes the grim reality of everyday soldiering for the 'grunts on the ground'. After the tragic death of his elder brother, and in the dark days following 9/11, McLaughlin felt compelled to fulfil his lifelong ambition to serve in the army. He followed his late brother into the elite Royal Green Jackets and passed the arduous Combat Infantryman's Course at the age of 31. Thereafter, McLaughlin found himself submerged in a world of casual violence. "Squaddie" is a snapshot of infantry soldiering in the twenty-first century. It takes us into the heart of an ancient institution that is struggling to retain its tough traditions in a rapidly changing world. All of the fears and anxieties that the modern soldier carries as his burden are laid bare, as well as the occasional joys and triumphs that can make him feel like he is doing the best job in the world. This is an account of army life by someone who has been there and done it. . Summary by Amazon |
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| 10 May 2006 | British Military Ethos and Christianity | Dr Stephen Deakin | British Army Review December 2005 |
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| Christian ethos in the British military explains why the British military became so concerned about its ethos at the end of the Twentieth Century. Christianity faded gradually from national life in the Twentieth Century. Secular humanism slowly took its place producing a society that moved from Christian standards in such areas as marriage, family, divorce, abortion, pornography, capital punishment and the like. Currently, the ethos of British secular humanism is highly individualistic, rights oriented, morally relativist and in that it supports a vision of a pluralistic society has a limited common public language. Yet military leaders in their contemporary concern for the British military ethos reveal, perhaps unconsciously, a lack of confidence about whether this secularism can provide the ethos that a successful British military requires. Britain’s history suggests that its military requires an ethos that is spiritual, communitarian, duty oriented, morally absolutist and with a strong public language. Christianity provided these
qualities for the British military. .
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| 22 Feb 2006 | Two Swords and Two Standards | Ann Lyon | Criminal Law Review, November 2005 |
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| It is an article of faith among the majority of United Kingdom lawyers that the
criminal jury system is more capable than any other of ensuring that the guilty are convicted and the innocent acquitted. Any proposals to restrict the availability of jury trial meet vigorous opposition, and politicians seeking to do so always protest their commitment to the principle of jury trial and their confidence in the reliability and good sense of jurors. Yet a jury is only as capable as the individuals who comprise it, and the composition of any jury is decided on an arbitrary basis, deliberately so.By contrast, the court-martial system has a board of officers who are the judges of fact and, if a conviciton results, become the sentencers along with the judge advocate. A significant safeguard to the system is the Permanent President of Courts-Martial, whose role in fact represented an important guarantee of independence from the chain of command and whose office has been favourably remarked upon by the European Court, the Courts-Martial Appeal Court, and the House of Lords. The author asks, "Can the jury system learn anything from the court-martial?" Another excellent and stimulating article from Ann Lyon. Summary by Aspals. |
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| 13 Jan 2006 | Murder, Mutiny and the Military British Court Martial Cases, 1940–1966 | Gerry Rubin | Francis Boutle Publishers Jan 2006 |
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| Gerry Rubin describes and analyses over twenty court martial cases involving British and colonial forces between 1940 and 1966. Focusing on cases of murder and mutiny the collection covers peacetime, wartime and post-war trials in many theatres of operation, including Britain, Europe, Cyprus, Palestine, Africa, the Far East and even homicide on the High Seas. Many of the cases generated intense public interest and political debate at the time, particularly those involving the imposition of the death penalty and where British troops were involved in the shooting of civilians. With the trials of British soldiers involved in abuses in Iraq still in the public mind this collection is timely. A detailed introduction describes court martial procedure during this period and discusses the continued function of courts martial today.
Summary by Aspals. |
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| 15 Jan 2006 ***New*** |
My War: Killing Time in Iraq | Colby Buzzell | Amazon Jan 2006 |
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| At twenty-six Colby Buzzell, unemployed and living at home, decided to join the US Army. Within months he was in Iraq, a machine gunner in the controversial Stryker Brigade Combat Team, an army unit on the cutting edge of combat technology and the first of its kind. Trapped amid 'guerrilla warfare, urban-style' in Mosul, Iraq, Buzzell was struck by the bizarre and often frightening world surrounding him. He began writing a blog describing the war - not as being reported by CNN or official briefings - but as experienced by the soldier on the ground. His story is a brutally honest and hard-hitting account of the absurdities of modern war. These are the real stories of the war: a firefight where the resistance came from 'men in black'; a night spent chain-smoking in the guard tower counting the tracer bullets being fired over the city; and the hesitation of a young soldier who had been passed around from platoon to platoon because he was too afraid to fight. "My War" is a powerful story of a young man and a war, unlike any you have read before.
Summary by Amazon. |
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| 15 Jan 2006 ***New*** |
The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq | John Crawford | Amazon Jan 2006 |
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| John Crawford's story might be something out of Hollywood (indeed, with the new FX series, `Over There', now playing, Crawford's story seems almost as if it had been lifted for that drama). Crawford is like many others - he joined the National Guard for college money, not to go abroad and fight a war (whatever happened to the days when the National Guard stayed at home? but I digress...) He was nearing graduation, newly married, and suddenly thrust into the middle of a war that was controversial at the start, and increasingly unpopular at home as it dragged on. Crawford spent three years in the 101st Airborne division, and then enlisted in the National Guard as he entered college, primarily for the tuition assistance. In Fall 2002, he was activated and had to go. Like many, his expectation of a short tour of duty was frustrated - the promise of `three months, six at most' turned into more than a year abroad.
Summary by Amazon. |
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